Okay, time for an update. I started working again last month (thankfully found a new job before my severance ran out) and that kind of slowed me down, but once the first autox events were announced that really lit a fire under me. I had been working on the ramps and built them out of 2x2/1/8 angles, with 1x1 used as cross bars (and convenient points to anchor to).
Here are the outside ramps. The inside ones were made the same way, just a foot shorter.
Here is a test fit of the ramps inside the unit. Note the scissor jacks with the shaft linking them together.
I had originally sourced some gas shocks for the door, but they proved very problematic. The hinges for the door tend to bend more than I would like, and the shocks had to be so strong at full extension that when closing the door, they would actually push it up enough to flex the hinges and cause issues with the door not closing nicely. So they were replaced with electric actuators.
But with all that done I did manage to get the car in there without issue.
I missed last week's event, but was able to scramble enough to make the one today! Nothing is painted, many holes and edges aren't deburred and so on, but as a test run everything went great!
Now I have a list of nice-to-haves including extending the wiring for the winch remote, building a false floor over some of the open compartments, and of course tidying up the wiring and all that. It's far from 'done' (isn't any project) but I was very happy with how it all went today. I stopped at the scale and with the car and all my gear, it weighed in at only 300lb more than it was when I bought it. The ramps probably weigh close to that, so I basically got the weight of the car itself to be a wash. I might remove the rear air handling unit (don't see myself ever needing heat or AC back there) and see how close I can get to truly breaking even.